Snowfall
by KindredWoD
Summary: An orphaned demon-hunter is the sole survivor when her village is destroyed. But as she searches for a new life, a chance encounter with a young girl in danger leads to her life being placed in the hands of a demon. Blood n stuff. ABANDONED, sorry.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Snowfall  
**Genre:** Action/Romance  
**Pairing:** Sesshomaru/Original  
**Others included:** Jaken, Rin, nameless demons, more to come  
**Disclaimer:** InuYasha characters are property of their original creators. I make no money from this and greatly thank those creators for making characters wonderful enough that our imaginations have gone wild with them! Akatake Nyoko is my original character creation. Please don't steal her.  
**Warning:** PG-13 for a bit of blood, belly flutters, and implications of more (Rating may change at a later date when I add more to the story)  
**Notes:** I'm trying my hand at writing a fanfic for the very first time. I've chosen Sesshomaru as my inspiration and have started setting the scene. My original character's name (family name first) is Akatake Nyoko. Roughly translated, it means Gem of the Red Bamboo.  
In this setting, Sesshomaru has regenerated his left arm and Rin is still rather young, probably having only been with him for less than a year. The other details will be revealed in the story. Here's what I've got so far. Enjoy!

* * *

As a wandering snowflake fluttered from the sky and came to rest on the bridge of her partially hidden nose, Akatake Nyoko held her breath still and her earthen-brown eyes on the beast lumbering in the snow before her and her clanmates. The large bear-demon sniffed the ground a mere twenty meters in front of the human trio that lay prone in the knee-deep snow. With the demon unable to get a fix on their scent, he stood on his hindquarters and rose to his full height, his head matching the height of the trees that dipped slightly from the weight of the snow. When the beast sniffed the air, Nyoko's focus wavered for the briefest moment, silently thanking her clanmates for having made the solid white garbs she and the clansmen with her wore this evening, allowing them to blend perfectly with the snow as they waited patiently with their weapons clutched beneath them.

A shifting breeze billowed past Nyoko and the two with her, lightly tossing the loose ends of the scarves tied around their heads and faces. "Damn it," Nyoko thought to herself as the breeze carried their scents straight to the demon before them. Taking a deep sniff of the air, the bear demon caught it and allowed himself to come back down on his front paws, the snow giving an audible crunch beneath his massive weight. Turning in the direction of the scent's origin, the creature lumbered forward, sniffing the air repeatedly with each step. Nyoko watched carefully as he approached, immediately catching the hunger in his eyes. She had seen it countless times before; the hunger to eat, to kill, the desire for human flesh. It was because of this hunger that two villages had already been slaughtered, the bear demon's appetite insatiable, and caused the elders of Nyoko's village to order him destroyed even though there were no survivors to offer payment for the kill.

When the demon stepped within eight meters of the hidden humans, Nyoko took a deep breath and clenched her weapons tight, her eight-pointed shuriken in her left hand, her grandfather's katana in her right. Holding that breath, she waited precious moments for the creature to turn its head to just the right angle. When he looked almost directly at the clansman to her right, Nyoko's left arm thrust out from the snow beneath her, the shuriken slicing the chilled air as it spun in a tight spiral before it hit its mark. A savage cry erupted from the bear demon's mouth, searing pain shooting through his body as the blades of the shuriken cut deep into his right eye. As the beast stumbled backward from the shock of the sudden pain, the human trio nearly flew from their hiding places, flurries of snow released into the wind as they bared their weapons and charged at the beast. Having lived in this region of the valley within the mountains all their lives, all three of them had been trained in how to run in the snow, pointing their toes directly toward the solid ground beneath the loose snow, finding a firm placement on the balls of their feet, and launching themselves forward with only a thin hole left in the snow to reveal where their step had been.

"For those you have murdered, we sentence you to death!" cried Tani Taro, the one who had been hiding to Nyoko's right side, as he swung his naginata through the air and brought it hard into the demon's left shoulder. It sliced through fur, flesh, and bone alike until the blade finally stopped and the beast's left arm hung from its body by only a few shreds of muscle and flesh on the opposite side and the beast was forced to place all of his forward weight on his right arm. As Taro withdrew his blade and prepared for his next strike, Tani Kano, the one that had been hidden in the snow to Nyoko's left, deftly slipped beneath the raging beast with his legs first, controlling his slide. When he was directly beneath the demon's belly, the creature having not noticed him for his blindness on that side of his body, Kano thrust his wakizashi directly up into the creatures stomach, almost immediately covering Kano in the beast's blood. As the demon thrashed from the pain, Kano held his blade firm, allowing the movement of the creature to do the job of slicing this way and that, making the wound so severe that the organs of the creature started to seep out of the wound. When the demon started to thrash enough that Kano knew he might be stepped on and crushed, he quickly flipped onto his stomach and scampered from beneath the beast, holding his wakizashi over his shoulder with the blade facing front as to slice the creature a bit more as he slipped from beneath the beast.

The demon bellowed so loudly that the snow from the trees faltered, falling to the ground just as the creature did. As the demon tried to place his still able arm on the snow-covered ground and raise itself up, Nyoko seized the opportunity and sprinted toward it, quickly climbing up its shoulder and onto its back. Taking a firm grip of the demon's fur with her left hand, she declared, "For all you have killed," before driving the katana into the back of the creature's head, slipping beneath the back of the skull and through the demon's head before the tip pierced through the front of its skull only slightly off-center from between its eyes. The beast gave one last shriek of horror as Nyoko withdrew her blade and quickly launched herself forward away from the beast, flipping in midair to land facing it. As she landed, Taro made a round stride toward the beast, raising his blade to slice open its throat as it cried out, then quickly stepping back to rejoin Nyoko and Kano. The three of them stood with eyes fixed on the beast, weapons ready in case their blows were not enough, or perhaps if the beast was not in true form and would shed its bear-form to become something far worse. Their breath was seen in small puffs in the chilled air as they took in and let out small, quick breathes, waiting to see the beast fall. After only a few seconds, the bear demon fell forward, the sound muffled to be only a loud crunch in the snow of the field in the shallow valley. The trio knew better than to breathe easy right away, still keeping their gaze firmly on the fallen creature. Nyoko slowly circled around the beast to the side, her grandfather's katana held outward as she studied the beast. After a few moments, she stepped up to the side of its head and held her blade high. "In the name of the innocents you have murdered, we send you to the afterlife," she said quietly before bringing the honed blade straight down on the beast's neck, severing the head from the body. As the head rolled a short distance away, the bear demon's body began to steam and melt away into nothing, producing a foul stench that might have incapacitated Nyoko and the men if not for their scarves that protected their faces. Even so, the smell was terrible and Nyoko quickly grabbed the head with her free hand to drag back to her clansmen. "Ug," she said in protest to the stench. "Why must the most foul of demons smell so foul as well?" she asked the men as she handed the head to Taro.

Taro gave a chuckle as he took the head from Nyoko, the blood slowly dripping onto the pure white snow between them. "It makes sense, does it not?" he offered with a smile hidden behind his scarf, though that smile shone in his brown eyes so dark that they seemed almost black. Plucking the shuriken from the beast's eye, he handed it back to Nyoko carefully, trying not to chuckle again. Nyoko simply gave a sigh and shook her head as she took the small blade and slipped it into the pouch tied to the back of her waist. She then brought her sword up with the blood-stained blade pointing upward as it rested on her shoulder, her gaze shifting between Taro and Kano. Kano tried to hide his chuckle regarding Nyoko's sensitive nose, carrying his wakizashi at his side, though keeping the blood-covered blade out of the sheathe for the time-being, as all three of them started their walk home side by side.

When the trio finally made it back to their village, the half-moon had just started to rise into the starlit sky, but they had little trouble finding their way home, as the torches that their fellow villagers kept lit were always waiting for any who were out hunting. Only when one of them failed to return home was one of the torches extinguished and left outside the village as a sign that their mortal light had faded, but that they were still remembered. As Nyoko and the two men approached the gates of the wall around their demon-slayer village, she found her gaze drifting over the dozens of long-since-lit torches that stood on either side of the gate. Taro caught the movement of her head and gave her a nudge with his elbow as he carried his naginata with that same arm. "Do not worry, little one. It will be many snow-falls before your torch stands alongside those," he offered in a gentle tone.

Nyoko looked up to Taro's face, nearly half a meter higher than her own, and gave a small smile behind her scarf. "Thank you, Taro. I hope it will be the same with yours," she replied in a small voice, though the weight of knowing a torch waited for each of them suddenly weighed heavy on her mind.

Holding his arm in front of himself and looking to the dried blood that covered almost his entire body, Kano gave a slight huff before speaking. "I just hope it is not that long before I get a hot bath," he said in a light-hearted voice. "This demon stinks to the high peaks." Kano always seemed to know exactly what to say to lighten Nyoko's mood. Both men had come to think of her as a little sister; watching out for her, but still making sure she was strong enough to stand on her own two feet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Snowfall  
**Genre:** Action/Romance  
**Pairing:** Sesshomaru/Original  
**Others included:** Jaken, Rin, nameless demons, more to come  
**Disclaimer:** InuYasha characters are property of their original creators. I make no money from this and greatly thank those creators for making characters wonderful enough that our imaginations have gone wild with them! Akatake Nyoko is my original character creation. Please don't steal her.  
**Warning:** PG-13 for a bit of blood, belly flutters, and implications of more (Rating may change at a later date when I add more to the story)  
Notes: These chapters aren't meant to be read independently. Please make sure you read all the ones before this so you know what's going on. That being said, enjoy the rest of the story!

* * *

She gave an honest smile to Kano's words before looking back to the gate before them as it swung open towards them. "Welcome home!" the elderly man in white priest-robes said as he leaned on his walking staff for support. "I see your hunt was successful. Excellent!" he proclaimed as he turned to head toward the courtyard not far from the village's main gate. He wasn't so much turning his back on the trio as they stepped through the gate, but he walked a great deal more slowly than the much younger folks. He barely managed to reach the cherry tree in the center of the courtyard before the returning hunters, each of whom dropped to one knee before the ancient but modestly sized tree. Laying their blood-covered weapons on the ground before them, including Nyoko's bag of shuriken stars, each of the three hunters untied their scarves that covered their heads and faces. Taro set the demon's severed head in front of them, as he was kneeling in the center of the three hunters, and ran a hand over his shaved head to ease the sudden chill after having removed his scarf. Kano took a deep breath as he looked up to the priest, his ear-length hair the color of near-black smoke framing his face. Nyoko was the last to get her scarf completely off, as she had to first untie her belt and set her bag of shuriken before her and then untangle her scarf from her mid-back length hair. As she did, midnight-black strands fell lightly around her face and shoulders, the few moonlight-silver streaks that accented it mingling in as she swept some of it behind her right ear.

By the time all three of them had laid out their weapons and removed their scarves, nearly the entire village had been awoken and was out in the courtyard forming a large circle. The priest glanced around to all present before looking back to the trio who bowed their heads before him in humble respect. "The bear demon who destroyed the two villages is slain!" the priest decreed, bringing a quick rousing of cheers from the village before they went silent again, waiting for him to continue, the returned hunters still with their heads bowed. "Though this hunt offered no bounty of monetary value, the lessons of friendship, loyalty, and dedication to an art have been opened once again. It is in these lessons that we become closer to one another, learn to fight alongside one another, and love each other as a single family. Though our blood may not come from the same ancestors..." At that point, Nyoko's focus on the priest's words drifted off, her thoughts wandering to the day she was found by a returning band of hunters of this village...

_She was four years old and was sitting amongst a thatch of bamboo reeds as she sobbed over the body of her dead mother. A lynx demon had come and slain her village before the band of hunters had found the beast and destroyed it. On their way back home, they had decided to return to the last village the demon destroyed, as it had only been a few hours since then and there were possibly survivors. They found Nyoko because the blood-covered reeds, movement, and sound of sobbing had caught their attention. They had asked her what her name was, but she did not know her family's name, only her own. One of the men carried her into what remained of her family's home, grateful that there were no bodies inside. Upon seeing that no one else in the village had survived, they decided it was best to being her back to their village and started gathering up a few of her and her family's belongings. After they bundled up some of her clothes and some rations from the storage, they started to leave. However, Nyoko nearly jumped out of the arms of the man carrying her. "The sword!" she cried. "No leave grandfather's sword! Mama said I have it when bigger! So no forget grandfather!"_

_The man carrying her turned to look at the far wall across from the door of the home. On a simple shelf and stand, both made of bamboo, was Nyoko's grandfather's katana. He nodded a warm smile to Nyoko, stepped over to the shelf, and placed his hand on top of it. "Spirit of Nyoko's grandfather, please follow your sword as it follows her. I pray that you will help comfort her in this time of need and always," the man said before bowing his head for a moment and then removing the sword from its stand. Carrying Nyoko in one arm, he held the sword in the hand of the opposite arm, but did so in a manner that Nyoko could clutch the sword's sheathe with her tiny hand as she wished to. The man who __carried her, the other three hunters, and Nyoko then left the village and returned to the one that Nyoko would then call home, where the priest gave her the family name Akatake, thus naming her Gem of the Red Bamboo..._

"So rise up, our brothers and sisters!" the priest continued, snapping Nyoko back to reality as she continued to look at the ground in front of her, slowly starting to get to her feet. "Stand and..." the priest started to say as he raised his hands and gaze to the starlit sky. His speech was cut short however, as his eyes found the slithering creatures that floated through the air, their hungry eyes looking down upon the village. "Demons!" he cried out as his eyes widened to the size of riceballs, nearly everyone's attention following his. "They are upon us! To arms!" he yelled before staggering with his walking stick to the room they used as a temple, knowing he must get his sacred sutras. Immediately the village was alert and bustling as every able-bodied resident ran back into their homes to get their weapons and tools for battling demons.

"Here they come!" Taro yelled as the first wave of demons suddenly plummeted from the sky, hurdling toward the ground in a giant mass, eyes hungry and mouths gaping for the human flesh below. Just as Nyoko grabbed for her sword in front of her and turned to face the onslaught approaching from the rear of where the trio was kneeling, the collection of demons swooped past, ravenous maws catching Taro and Kano but only knocking Nyoko aside. Her katana flew from her grasp, landing with the tip piercing the base of the trunk of the cherry tree in the courtyard. Nyoko landed some meters away, her vision hazy from the blow. As she looked up, she saw what appeared to be a man floating among the demons, his solid black hair long and wavy, with eyes that revealed his sinister nature as he sneered and chuckled. The world then went black for Nyoko, but as she lay with a slow trickle of blood seeping from the wound on her head, the battle raged. Demons flew through the air, feeding ravenously on any human they found, erupting through doors, windows, and walls of every home in the village. The cries of the children were drowned out only by the dull roar of the beasts as they ate half the villagers, simply killing the rest for the sheer thrill of it. Somewhere amid the attack, the torches that had lit the way home for the hunters became overturned and the village became ablaze. After having their fill and seeing the fire growing too large for their tastes, the one Nyoko had seen and the demons with him disappeared into the night. All around her, Nyoko's home continued to burn with only the courtyard left intact, as there were no structures there to catch fire. The cherry tree wilted from the heat of the burning buildings on all sides, but managed to keep its limbs from the flames. Below the tree, Nyoko's unconscious mind drifted to a dream she'd had many times before...

_Nyoko stood in the middle of a forest of snow-covered cherry trees in her solid white garbs, the wind absolutely still and the snow not falling at that moment. She stared straight in front of her with earthen-brown eyes, directly at the silver wolf several meters before her. The wolf stared back at her, his piercing eyes of faded blue unblinking. "Why have you called me!?" she demanded to the wolf as her body remained perfectly still._

_"I loved her. I will always love her," the wolf, apparently a demon, replied in a calm voice..._

Nyoko then suddenly awoke to the feeling of suddenly being very cold. "Why!?" she called out upon waking, immediately sitting up to face what was in her dream. When she did however, the rush of pain from her wounds and blood suddenly leaving her head caused her to groan and lay back down, curling up on her side as she hugged her head. "Oh..." she groaned again as she held her eyes shut from the pain. "Taro, what happened?" she asked while slowly opening her eyes. She blinked several times to regain her focus as she looked around, the breath in her lungs stilled as she looked upon the village. "T-Taro? Kano?" she stuttered as she quickly began looking around. "Priest Akemi..." she gasped when her eyes found the scorched remains of the priest that laid in the doorway of the temple, the man having never gotten a chance to get to his sutras. Her gaze drifted all around her, turning her body as she needed to while still staying in the same spot where she had been lying. "Hoshi?" she called out as she continued to survey the utter destruction, hoping someone would answer her. "Kita? Taree?!" she kept calling as her breathing became rapid in her lungs, the weight of what had happened slowly sinking into her mind. "Jomei?! Shika?!" Her eyes began to fill with tears as she spun faster and faster, searching for any sign of life. As she stayed kneeling in the newly fallen snow and raised her fists to the near-dawn sky, she screamed out, "ANYONE?!?!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Snowfall  
**Genre:** Action/Romance  
**Pairing:** Sesshomaru/Original  
**Others included:** Jaken, Rin, nameless demons, more to come  
**Disclaimer:** InuYasha characters are property of their original creators. I make no money from this and greatly thank those creators for making characters wonderful enough that our imaginations have gone wild with them! Akatake Nyoko is my original character creation. Please don't steal her.  
**Warning:** PG-13 for a bit of blood, belly flutters, and implications of more (Rating may change at a later date when I add more to the story)  
Notes: These chapters aren't meant to be read independently. Please make sure you read all the ones before this so you know what's going on. That being said, enjoy the rest of the story!

* * *

Falling forward on her hands, Nyoko gave a grunt of pain, though at the moment it was mostly mental pain she was feeling. She barely acknowledged her injuries as her hair fell forward to hide her face, tears streaming down her cheeks and falling to the thin layer of snow below her face. "Why?" she asked to the gentle wind that slowly billowed around her. "Why must I always be alone? They made me part of their family when I lost mine," she sobbed quietly. After a few minutes of simply allowing herself to cry, Nyoko's hands started to become numb in the still gently falling snow and she raised her eyes to the cloudy sky that tried to hide the morning's orange and yellow streaks. Her mind was a mess of emotions and thoughts, one running into the next and the next. Slowly she started to calm her mind and tried to stand, finding it rather difficult due to the injuries she obtained from the demons. When she finally got to her feet, she started to take a deep breath, but quickly covered her nose and mouth with her hand as the scent of dead and burnt bodies swiftly found her sensitive nose. She hadn't noticed it until that moment due to the mental strain of accepting what surrounded her and the sheer pain of her wounds. She glanced to the ground where she had been kneeling before the cherry tree and spotted her scarf in the shallow snow. Her eyes couldn't help but waver the few meters to the side where pieces of Tano's body laid strewn about the ground. She gave a slow sigh through her clutched hand and staggered over toward the scarf, kneeling painfully to pick it up and wrap it around her head and face. When it was in place and her nose and mouth were covered, she glanced at her hand and noticed that she had been bleeding from her head, idly rubbing her fingers together in the blood. She sighed again and figured that she would either pass out from blood loss and die, or that the pressure from her scarf would stop the bleeding and she would recover. It didn't really make any difference to her now.

Throughout the morning, as the sun crept its way into the sky, Nyoko gathered up a bundle of various things including food rations, a change of clothes, several of her weapons, and her grandfather's katana that she retrieved from the tree once she found it again. She cleaned all of her weapons with hot water she obtained by burning a few pieces of wood she found to be untouched by the fire under a pot before tucking them all away either in her bundle or in her sash. She also treated her various wounds, including the one on her head, using the few herbs that managed to survive the fire and some scraps of unburnt fabric she found. After she was through bandaging herself and had her bundle tied to her back with her weapons and a small amount of money, she slowly made her way toward the gate, which had all but burned completely away. She turned and gave one last look to the smoldering remains of the village and silently asked forgiveness for not burying the bodies. She left them untouched because she did not find herself of spiritual status worthy of sending the dead where they belong, and also because she knew that if anyone were to happen upon the village, it would probably be best if they thought everyone died, and there would be less chance of anyone tracking her down. With that, she turned and made her way through the shin-deep snow away from the village, the skies starting to cover the horrible scene with a blanket of white innocence.

Nyoko's village was tucked away in a valley within the mountains near the eastern shore of Japan, just north of Mito. Not really sure where to go, she decided it best if she head south toward Mount Fuji. Her people weren't very well known outside of their own area, so she thought she might start a new life in another village, perhaps even stumble across another demon-slayer community that she could offer her services to. As demon-slayers went, she was still mostly an apprentice as she had only seen twenty winters in her time, but she was able to fight alongside the best of her adoptive family. She kept her bearings by the way the sun moved to make sure she was heading south, always aware of her surroundings as she stopped only occasionally to ensure her bandages were holding firm and to snack on a riceball she brought with her. When nightfall came, she realized she hadn't stopped very much all day, having put a great distance between herself and the village, and firmly put it in her mind that she would never return there. Deciding she had better make camp for the night, she started collecting small branches from trees as she walked, making sure the ones she snapped off were free of snow and therefore moisture. Stopping at a half-frozen stream, she spent the rest of the twilight building a fire near a rock formation that provided something of a shelter for her and catching fish by tying a thin rope to her throwing blades and spearing fish in the water.

As the last of the light faded from the starlit sky, Nyoko had her fire going and was roasting two of her fish on a stick as she sat with her legs crossed and her chin propped in the palm of her free hand. When the fish appeared to be cooked through, she held the stick in one hand and untied her scarf with the other. Just as she took a deep sniff of the fish and was about to bite into it, a stray breeze lightly skimmed around her and something carried with it made her hair stand up on end. Nyoko had learned the hard way to trust her instincts when it came to danger, and she immediately set the fish on a rock next to where she was sitting, her hand instantly going for the katana at her side after she did. Her earthen-brown eyes slowly grazed over the darkened forest in the direction the wind had come from, her ears practically perked as she sat silently, waiting for a sign of danger. That sign came in the form of a tree being nearly knocked over about fifty meters into the forest near Nyoko. Despite her injuries, she knew that if a demon was lured by the smell of her camp or her wounds, she would need to defend herself. Slowly getting to her feet, she kept the fire to her back so she wouldn't be blinded by it as she drew her sword and held it out in front of her, eyes trained on the area where the tree had fallen from. As she continued to watch, the dim moonlight that pierced through bits of the trees revealed a silhouette slightly larger than a man lumbering through the smaller cedar trees fast enough to be considered a jog. Nyoko realized it was probably a demon of some sort, most likely drawn by the scent of her food. She silently scolded herself for not being more careful in where she set up camp, but quickly snapped back to the situation at hand as she took an offensive stance and waited for the demon to come into the clearing by the river. She took a few steps forward to be sure that she was clear of the fire if she should need to maneuver and controlled her breathing so she could focus more easily. When the creature was almost within ten meters of the clearing, she tightened her grip on the katana, running through her head the techniques she would use to slay the demon quickly. Just as she was bringing her sword into position for her first move, a small girl in a faded yellow and orange kimono emerged from the brush at the base of the trees in a great hurry, nearly falling forward as she stumbled in her rush to get away from the demon pursuing her.

Immediately Nyoko's protective instincts went on full alert and she held the blade off to one side as she motioned to the child with her other hand. "Come here, child! Behind me!" she called out as she reached toward the girl. Hearing Nyoko's words, the child stumbled slightly as she looked to her, but quickly regained her footing and ran over to her, clutching her small hands at the sash of Nyoko's belt. Her instincts telling her to protect the child now taking charge, Nyoko held her free hand slightly behind her, gently touching the child's shoulder and assuring herself that the child was safe as she waited for the beast to come into the clearing. "Get down. Do not move unless I tell you," she said over her shoulder to the child as she kept her eyes on the shadowed form now only five meters from the clearing. Unseen by Nyoko, the child gave a nod and hurried the few steps to the rock formation Nyoko was planning on using for shelter during the night, watching the goings-on past the fire. Only a few breaths later, the creature emerged into the clearing, Nyoko immediately identifying the beast as a bear demon similar to the one she and her clanmates had slain the previous night, though obviously much younger and smaller. Ignoring the small whimper from the child behind her, Nyoko seized the moment when the bear demon was surveying the clearing to make her attack. Taking three quick steps, she sprinted to a nearby rock, launched herself from it with one foot, and propelled herself directly toward the creature. "To the afterlife with you!" she cried just before the ancient blade of her grandfather's katana sliced through the demon's neck, a horrified expression on his face as the head came free almost instantly and fell to the ground next to where Nyoko landed. The demon's body remained standing for a few moments before falling forward and beginning to melt in the same manner as the one she had killed the day before. As it was not nearly as old as the other, this demon did not smell anywhere near as foul, taking only a few moments to decay and the smell dissipated by the chilled breeze. By the time Nyoko could stand upright and turn around, the body was no more than a black stain on the ground where the snow once lay.

Picking up the demon's head with her free hand, Nyoko glanced to the spot and decided this demon must have been related to the other, though nowhere near as aged and resilient. She made a hurried pace back to the fire where she had left the girl, dropping the head a short distance from the fire before she stepped closer to the rock and held out her free hand to the girl, who simply cowered for a moment in fear of Nyoko's skills. "I will not harm you," she said in a gentle voice that she used to use with the children of the village. "My name is Akatake Nyoko. What is yours?" She offered a warm smile to the young child, but it quickly faded as Nyoko winced in pain, suddenly realizing that the fight, no matter how quick, had strained her injuries from the attack on the village. With the adrenaline leaving her body, she found herself falling to one knee, reflexively stabbing the tip of her sword into the ground to use as a brace.

The young girl gasped and scurried out from behind the rock, coming up to Nyoko and gently cupping Nyoko's face with her tiny hands. "Are you ok, Nyoko?" the girl said. There was a distinct tone of worry and concern in her tiny voice and her deep brown eyes drifted over Nyoko in confusion as she had not seen the demon lay a single blow on her. She gasped again however, as she saw the blood slowly seeping through the bandages she now saw on Nyoko's arms, torso, and left leg. "You're hurt!" she exclaimed as she reached for one of the wounds, wanting to help the woman who had just saved her life.

Just as the child was about to inspect one of the bleeding injuries on Nyoko's arm, there was a small rustle in the brush near where the demon had emerged. Adrenaline immediately started to surge in Nyoko's veins once again as she turned her head toward the noise. Almost out of nowhere, what Nyoko first thought to be a man stood at the edge of the clearing, his hip-length white hair gently tossed about his shoulders by a passing chilled breeze. As she looked closer however, she realized he was more, a demon in human disguise. Almost all at once, she took in his entire form. Starting at his solid black boots, up over his white garbs accented with red tips on the sleeves, past the yellow sash and clawed armor, finally to let her gaze meet his of piercing gold. A sneer came to Nyoko's lips, even as her internal injuries had worsened and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. With a reserve of strength she didn't think she had, she forced herself to stand, placing a protective hand on the child's shoulder as she hid the girl behind her, her other hand holding her katana outstretched toward the demon. "Leave in peace and we will have no business with battle," she called out to silent one who simply looked at her with an unblinking gaze. "You will not touch this child. If you attempt such, I will be forced to defend her from the likes of you, demon!" she said before giving a small cough, trying her best to hide it. As she did, her grip on the child's shoulder wavered and the girl was able to peek out from behind Nyoko to see who she was talking to.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" the child called out in a tone that was half delighted, half relieved. The little girl quickly brushed off Nyoko's hand and ran as fast as she could to the demon, clutching his yellow and blue sash as she nuzzled into his leg. "I was so scared, Lord Sesshomaru! That nasty bear demon was trying to eat me," she told the white-haired demon as he allowed his right hand to emerge from his long sleeve and rest protectively on her head.

"Wha.." Nyoko tried to say as her strength started to fade, causing her to fall forward and barely able to catch herself with her free hand, though she quickly slumped to the ground, her vision hazy. As the world started to go black as it had at the attack of the village, she wasn't quite able to make out the words the girl said, but heard the silvery tones of the demon's reply to her. The words were muffled, but she heard the sound, nonetheless. It seemed to take forever for Nyoko's eyes to slip closed, and she found herself falling into an inky black void. Flashes of her life from her birth until that moment started to race through her mind, the most horrific of them standing out, each one as vivid as the moment she originally experienced it. She couldn't tell up from down, light from shadow, or even where her own body was as she seemed to be removed from it. The entire time, she was in excruciating pain. Seeming to come from everywhere yet nowhere was a sensation like she was being stabbed with a hundred tiny spears, digging deep into her flesh to rend muscle from bone.

After what seemed like an eternity, Nyoko slowly began to open her eyes and found that the pain was gone. She took a breath but immediately choked and coughed, feeling as though her lungs were empty of air before that breath. Curling up on her side and gasping for air, she blinked several times to bring her vision into focus, and realized she was looking at those same black boots that the white-haired demon had been wearing. Quite gradually, she rolled onto her back as her gaze drifted up from the boots to find the face of the one that wore them. "Wha... what happened?" she asked as she found herself unable to tear her eyes from the piercing gold gaze that looked back to her as the demon stood over her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Snowfall  
**Genre:** Action/Romance  
**Pairing:** Sesshomaru/Original  
**Others included:** Jaken, Rin, nameless demons, more to come  
**Disclaimer:** InuYasha characters are property of their original creators. I make no money from this and greatly thank those creators for making characters wonderful enough that our imaginations have gone wild with them! Akatake Nyoko is my original character creation. Please don't steal her.  
**Warning:** PG-13 for a bit of blood, belly flutters, and implications of more (Rating may change at a later date when I add more to the story)  
Notes: These chapters aren't meant to be read independently. Please make sure you read all the ones before this so you know what's going on. That being said, enjoy the rest of the story!

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"Rin explained what you did for her, having slayed that bear demon that pursued her while I was indisposed. You died from exerting yourself with the injuries you had. Because you saved her, I have brought you back to life." The demon explained it all matter-of-factly, though his voice was like a silver strand on the wind, beautiful but with an edge that let any who heard it know that he was completely resolute about what he said. "Rin was quite adamant about it," he said as his eyes slid from Nyoko to the small girl who came around to kneel next to the demon where Nyoko could see her.

The young girl, apparently the one called Rin, gave a large, innocent smile as she looked to Nyoko. "Lord Sesshomaru has a sword called the Tenseiga. He can bring people back to life with it. He did it for me too a long time ago," Rin explained at seeing the confused look on Nyoko's face. "See?" she said as she reached to Nyoko and untied the bandage on her upper arm, revealing the wound beneath had completely healed and disappeared.

"I was..." Nyoko started to say, struggling to grasp the fact that she had been dead and then brought back by the very demon she thought was going to attack her and the child she just met. Sheer training of respect took over in that moment and she turned to her side to bring her feet beneath her. Maneuvering a bit, she came to sit on her legs and knelt before the one called Sesshomaru, bowing her head to the ground and closing her eyes for a moment. "Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru. I am in your debt for saving my life," she said before raising her upper body to sit upright and look up to his face.

Sesshomaru looked down at Nyoko for a long moment, seeming to consider the situation silently. Nyoko waited as his gaze trailed over her, knowing she was virtually at his mercy now that he had brought her back from the afterlife. "If you are in my debt, then stand up. I will not have one of my wards grovelling in the dirt," he finally said after what seemed like the longest minute of Nyoko's life. "I cannot simply leave you here after you provided such a service to Rin. With her feeling so strongly about me bringing you back to life, it would seem she is a bit attached to you now," he said as he looked back to Rin, who stood back up and looked to Sesshomaru's face with a delighted grin that only a child can give as Nyoko rose to her feet as well. Standing before the demon, Nyoko was around a quarter of a meter shorter than him, though seemed even more-so as she bowed her head slightly and let her gaze fall to the ground, feeling somewhat unworthy of looking up to his face at that precise moment. Turning his head back toward the woods where he emerged from, Sesshomaru spoke without raising his voice, as though any who heard him should silence themselves and listen. "Jaken," he said before looking back to Nyoko's bowed head.

"Yes, m'lord!" a strained and slightly fearful voice replied. From the brush at the base of the trees, a rather short imp-demon with a bird-like beak stumbled forth, the reins of a two-headed dragon-demon in one hand, a two-headed staff in the other. Hurriedly tugging at the reins attached to the heads of the demon no taller than Sesshomaru, the imp scrambled over to stand on the side of him opposite of Rin. "What is your will, m'lord?" he asked in a quick gasp, as though the short jog caused him to run out of breath.

His eyes still on Nyoko, Sesshomaru seemed to be thinking deeply about something, though didn't express it to any of those around him. "Take Nyoko's belongings and Rin back to the cave. Ensure she eats and rests well," he instructed the imp he called Jaken. "I have things to discuss with Nyoko," he said as his eyes gave the slightest flash to reveal that he was deep in thought.

"Come on, Master Jaken!" Rin said with child-like glee as she ran over to the fire and started to tug at Nyoko's bag, though left the katana on the ground next to where Nyoko had been lying dead and now stood. "There should still be some berries in my basket there." Jaken gave a small sigh as he still didn't understand why Sesshomaru associated with the few humans he did. Knowing better than to question him however, Jaken stepped over to assist Rin in collecting Nyoko's bag and situating it on the dragon-creature's back, who knelt obediently as Rin climbed up to sit on the blanket on his back, holding the bag secure with one hand. Taking the reins of the tamed beast once again, Jaken lead them down the shore of the stream heading east.

Once they were out of sight around a bend in the stream, Sesshomaru gently brought his right hand up beneath Nyoko's chin, lifting her face so that her gaze met his. Nyoko shuddered for a small breath, far from expecting such a tender touch from the demon able to return people from the afterlife. "Come. We will find a more suitable place to talk," he said in that silvery voice. For the briefest moment, Nyoko thought she heard a subtle undertone of something in his words, but quickly dismissed the thought as she nodded to him. Taking the step to the side needed, she bent to retrieve her sword from the shallow snow, her free hand collecting the end of the sash around her waist as she did. As she stood, she held the length of fabric in her open hand, laid the sword in her palm with the blade up, and clutched her fingers on either side of the sword before drawing it through the fabric, effectively removing the stain of the bear-demon's blood.

Replacing it in the sheath attached to her sash, she turned to find Sesshomaru standing directly before her, causing her to gasp slightly and reflexively attempt to take a step back. Before she could, Sesshomaru's right arm came from the folds of his kimono and slipped around her waist, drawing her up against his body. Her breath stilled in her lungs as she looked up to his face for what seemed like the longest moment. "Hold on to me," he said in almost a whisper, though she thought it to simply be due to their closeness and that he didn't want to seem overly fierce. Not quite sure what he was going to do, Nyoko let her arms creep up to fold gently around Sesshomaru's neck, unable to break her gaze from his. As soon as her hands were intertwined behind his neck, she felt a sudden rush of air from behind her, as though a strong breeze had come out of nowhere to billow past them. It was only when she noticed the trees behind Sesshomaru were replaced by the night sky that she looked away from his face and glanced around briefly. Upon seeing that they were now airborne and flying on a cloud at his feet at an incredible rate, she instantly clung to him, pressing her body flush against his and tightening her grasp around his neck as she gasped. Although Nyoko was holding onto him as tight as she could, Sesshomaru didn't seem to be effected by it, as though even her trained and disciplined strength from demon hunting was nothing compared to his. "Do not worry, little one," he said in what almost seemed like a soothing tone, Nyoko's eyes snapping away from the scenery and back to his gaze. "If I wished you harm or death, I would have simply left you on the ground after your battle with that bear demon. I will not let you fall." His arm around her waist tightened ever so slightly, just enough that Nyoko could feel the hardness of his chest and stomach pressed against her body.

Although she still wasn't entirely sure she could trust him, she gave a nod beside the fact but still didn't loosen her grip around his neck. Still holding on as though her life depended on it, she tucked her face into the front folds of his kimono, shutting her eyes tight as she spoke softly. "Please, just tell me when we are on the ground again," she requested in a quiet tone, not wanting to seem as though she was demanding it. Only a moment later, she felt Sesshomaru's other hand come to the back of her head, gently urging her to hide her vision from the path of their flight and find security in her closed eyes. As Nyoko hid her face from the realization of how far off the ground they were, she nuzzled tenderly against his kimono, and inadvertently took a deep breath of his scent. It nearly made her mouth go dry, almost her entire being savoring that one inhalation of scent. She couldn't have effectively described it if she tried, a heady mixture of rich lotus and harsh musk being the only two parts she was able to identify even with her highly sensitive nose. Before she realized it, she had taken several more deep breaths with her face buried in the front folds of his kimono, and Sesshomaru was allowing his fingers to idly slip between the strands of her hair with a tenderness Nyoko thought to be just something of her imagination.

A short time later, Sesshomaru allowed them to drift down from the midnight sky, between a cluster of trees, and down into a small crevice in the mountainside. Between the steep cliffs on either side was a clearing no more than ten meters wide and fifteen meters long. Once he settled them onto the ground, he loosened his grip on Nyoko's waist only slightly, still holding her against himself for the moment, looking down to her with what many would consider emotionless eyes. Upon feeling the ground beneath her feet again, Nyoko looked up to his face and found those eyes to be filled with nearly every emotion she could name and a few she couldn't. After a few moments of silence, Sesshomaru spoke in a hushed tone, Nyoko being unsure if it was simply her mind playing tricks on her that she heard an underlying tone of tenderness. "This is my haven of seclusion. Not even Jaken knows of this place," he said as he slowly loosened his grip from around her waist and withdrew his arm, allowing both of his arms to return to his sides. She remained standing with only a breath between them as she glanced around the area, only taking a step away from him as her breath came in a slow gasp at what she saw and she turned to see the clearing more fully. Within the crevice where the clearing sat was covered in green plants of many kinds. Small trees lined the rock walls around the clearing as ivy dared to creep higher on the stone's surface. A handful of flowering shrubs sat clustered in one corner. The ground was completely covered with grass and tiny flowers, save only for the center of the clearing where a steaming pond sat surrounded by a small circle of dirt.

"It is... beautiful," Nyoko finally managed to say in a hushed tone as she took a few short steps away from him, barely able to believe her eyes. "How does this place exist in the dead of winter?" she asked, though she didn't turn to face him, still trying to believe it was real.

Sesshomaru started to take slow steps toward the center of the clearing, his eyes on the steaming water of the pool. As he walked toward it, he brushed past Nyoko ever so gently, but the slight touch sent a shiver through her body she did not expect. "This pool is made from an underground spring of hot water. The heat sends away the chill of winter, allowing these plants to grow throughout the year. Because this place is hidden within the crevice on the steep side of the mountain, few are able to come here. However, those who do manage to set foot here," he said as he stepped over to the opening that overlooked the cliff below and allowed his eyes to scan the forest over a hundred meters beneath them, "quickly learn that I have claimed this place as my own, and do not welcome visitors."

"Then... why have you brought me here?" Nyoko asked as her arms folded over her stomach, a subconscious movement out of her feeling unworthy to be allowed in this small piece of paradise. Her earthen-brown eyes scanned over the secluded area once more before settling on Sesshomaru, watching how he moved as questions started dancing through her mind.

He laid a hand on an outcropping of rock at the edge of the cliff where he stood, simply remaining silent for the space of a few breaths. Nyoko thought she heard him give a slow, controlled breath, as though he were weighing the words in his mind before speaking. "I have been searching," he finally said.

"For what?" she responded as she took a few steps around the pool to move toward him, not even really aware that she'd made the move.

When he took another slow breath, she was sure she'd heard it that time, wondering what he was considering so deeply. "Ever since I found Rin and took her into my care as my ward, I have found myself wondering. If she is merely human, how am I to know how to properly raise her? I cannot watch her grow to become all that she has the potential for if I raise her as I was, as a demon." Nyoko listened carefully to his words, still taking slow steps toward him until she stopped about halfway between Sesshomaru at the cliff and the pool of water behind her. "That is why I have been searching..." he said as he turned to face her, his golden eyes seeming to almost shimmer in the dim light of the half-moon over their heads. "Searching for a human woman who could help me raise Rin." As he continued to speak, Sesshomaru started to step toward Nyoko, his gaze locked with hers as he drew near. His right hand came from the folds of his kimono and reached toward her with his palm up, fingers slightly spread in a welcoming gesture. "To be the mother she never knew." When he reached where she was standing, he gently took her face in his hand, his thumb giving a tender stroke over her cheekbone. As he spoke the last part of his confession, Sesshomaru's voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "To be my mate."

As Nyoko heard the last few words from him, a quick but shallow gasp slipped past her lips and she found herself staring into his eyes that suddenly shone as before, baring every emotion imaginable. "Why me?" she managed to say as her arms slipped down from their protective position over her stomach and idly intertwined her fingers before her waist. Though she didn't realize she was doing it, she turned her face the slightest bit into his hand, subconsciously welcoming his touch.

Quick to notice her movements, Sesshomaru brought his left hand forward to gently grasp Nyoko's right one, holding it tenderly as his thumb continued to brush over her face softly. "When I realized you were willing to give your life to protect her, and genuinely did, I knew you would be the one to fill the place of her mother. But when I saw your beauty standing before me once I had brought you back, and looked into your eyes the color of the richest earth, I knew you would also be the one I would hold dearly to call my mate." Before she could think of anything to say in response, Sesshomaru rotated his hand at her face to bring his fingers beneath her chin, tilting her face up so her lips could meet his as he placed a tender yet passionate kiss to her soft pink lips.


	5. Sorry

Notice of abandonment

Sorry, folks! After re-reading my story (which I wrote over two years ago), I realized the plot was severely lacking and I couldn't exactly just plug up the holes as I went along. I promise to write another Seshy romance sometime in the future, but right now I'm working on one for HP. When I've got the new Seshy story in the works, I'll put a notice here.

Thanks for reading!

-Kin


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